Jurors Picked For 13-year-old's Murder Trial

The murder trial of a 13-year-old Broward boy who says he accidentally killed a 6-year-old playmate while mimicking pro wrestlers will begin on Tuesday.

Attorneys on Thursday finished picking a panel of 12 jurors and two alternates (10 women and four men) at the end of two days of jury selection.

Lionel Tate is charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the July 1999 death of Tiffany Eunick, at Tate's Pembroke Park home when he was 12. If convicted, he technically faces life in prison, but Broward County Judge Joel T. Lazarus could also impose a much lesser sentence.

The jury panel that will decide Tate's guilt or innocence includes: a legal assistant for a civil attorney, a registered nurse, a real estate agent, a systems analyst, an automotive comptroller, a speech pathologist, a former teacher who is now a music therapist, a nursing assistant, a manufacturing firm manager, an insurance agent, a claims manager, a secretary, a retired FBI agent who runs a security business and a housewife.

The predominantly white panel includes two black jurors.

Defense attorney Jim Lewis expressed concern early Thursday that so many members of minority groups were dismissed because they had strong objections to a child being charged as an adult.

"They are probably exactly the jurors we would want," Lewis said, adding he was eventually satisfied with the final panel.

He also told jurors that Tate cannot really get a jury of his peers because people of his age are not legally allowed to sit on a jury.

During the two lengthy and frequently boring days of jury selection, Tate was well behaved as he sat at the defense table between his attorney and a psychologist who was helping with the process. His mother, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kathleen Grossett-Tate sat in the rear of the courtroom.

Tate has always maintained he is innocent and was released on electronic monitoring after another judge determined he was not a risk to the community. He attends private school.

When the trial begins next week, prosecutor Ken Padowitz will tell the jury that Tiffany died from a serious beating that inflicted more than 30 minor and severe injuries, including one that detached part of her liver.

Lewis will say that the incident is not a crime but a tragic accident that resulted from Tate's immaturity and lack of understanding of how much damage a 166-pound boy could do to a 48-pound girl.

As Lewis questioned potential jurors about their attitudes, he made it clear that he will argue Tiffany's death was a legally excusable homicide, which the law says is one "committed by accident and misfortune in doing any lawful act by lawful means" using usual caution.

"Sometimes people are killed and die and there's nobody to blame. It's just an accident," Lewis told the panel Thursday.

And he said the defense wants acquittal for Tate, not a compromise verdict that finds Tate guilty of a lesser crime.

Lewis also asked jurors to understand why the 13-year-old may not testify in his own defense, gesturing to the TV camera as one reason why Tate may not take the witness.

"Can you imagine the difficulty of a 13-year-old child on trial for his life taking the witnessstand? Do you understand the difficulty?" he asked.

No defendant can be forced to testify in his own trial and jurors are ordered that they cannot hold that against the defense if the defendant chooses not to testify.

Other topics Lewis raised during jury selection were people's attitudes to professional wrestling, psychology and maturity.

The case will be broadcast live on Court TV and featured on news broadcasts around the nation and even in Germany. Attorneys for the World Wrestling Federation, which has filed a federal libel lawsuit against Lewis, are also monitoring the trial.

Lewis lost a bid last year to subpoena well-known pro wrestlers to testify about the industry's influence on children.

Paula McMahon can be reached at pmcmahon@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4533.